• You may be contemplating living with your partner, and you may want to know the law and your legal rights first. You may also be contemplating a separation, and want to know the law and your legal rights before taking any steps towards separation.
• If you have been served with court documents, we recommend scheduling a consultation with a lawyer quickly, so that you can become aware of the options available to you.
• Many transactions and agreements between ex-spouses and ex-partners require the involvement of a lawyer, particularly when an agreement is made about property. Lawyers are also best equipped to help with areas of the law like spousal support, retroactive child support and child support for adult children, where the Court requires substantial information to make a decision.

• If you are served with a court document, it is possible that you have only a short period of time in which you must respond. We recommend consulting with a lawyer as soon as possible so that you can find out more about your legal rights and your options.

• You do not need to bring anything with you, however, we can only provide you with information and advice based on what you choose to share. If you are contemplating a divorce, it will save time if you bring your marriage certificate.

• In family matters, there are often time-sensitive issues that require us to get in contact with clients quickly. Please keep your contact information up to date. Check your e-mails regularly and ensure that your voicemail is functional. If you notice a missed call from our office, please call us back or send us an e-mail and tell us when you will be available to speak with us.
• You can minimize your legal fees by carefully reading the documents that we send, and providing a complete response in a timely manner when we ask questions. This will avoid follow-up calls from our office requesting more information. Please avoid sending multiple e-mails in one day if there is no emergency, as it will take longer for us to find and compare multiple e-mails than it does to read a single e-mail.
• It is not efficient for both parties in a case to spend $100.00 to go to court to argue over $100.00. It is important to prioritize the most important issues and goals during the course of litigation, and to focus on resolution in the long term.

• Every divorce is different, and it often depends on the issues, and the willingness of the parties to compromise and discuss their options.

• The duration of a parenting case varies greatly. Factors include the complexity of the case, cooperation between parties, and the court’s schedule. Generally, it can take anywhere from a few months to more than a year to resolve.

• To prepare for a custody hearing, gather important documents such as school records, healthcare information, and any evidence that supports your case. Consider discussing your strategy with a lawyer for tailored advice.

• “Decision-making responsibilities or parental responsibilities” refers to the legal rights and responsibilities that parents and guardians have towards children. Decision-making responsibilities/parental responsibilities are often tied to the ability to make decisions about a child’s education, childcare, religion and medical care. “Parenting time” refers to the plan or arrangement that determines when a child is in the care of one parent or the other. For example, parents could have joint custody and agree for the parenting time with their child to be split unequally because one parent works out of town two weeks out of three.
• “Custody” is a term previously used in the Divorce Act. Amendments to the Divorce Act came into force on July 1, 2020, which removed the terms “custody” and “access” from the act and replaced them with “decision-making responsibility” and “parenting time”. The British Columbia Family Law Act uses the terms “parental responsibilities” and “parenting time”. It is possible for a parent or guardian to have parenting time and no decision-making responsibility, or vice-versa.”
• Deb has extensive experience with parenting litigation, including high conflict matters. Parties may seek a decision from the court to decide who has parenting time (or decision-making responsibility), but there are other ways to deal with this issue including mediation and settlement discussions.

• Child support is calculated using the Federal or Provincial Child Support Guidelines, which take into account the income of the person paying child support, the province that they reside in, and the number of children that they are paying child support for.
• There is no automatic entitlement to spousal support or alimony. Every case is different, and the amount of spousal support that is appropriate will depend on a number of factors, including how long the parties lived together and how they managed their finances during their relationship.

• Your gender or the gender of your lawyer does not provide an advantage or a disadvantage in family court.

• Adultery refers to infidelity between spouses, and it is one of the three grounds for divorce. In Canada, couples can finalize a divorce one year after they separate. Although in theory, adultery can be used to shorten the amount of time that married couples must be separated before they can get a divorce, in practice, the process of proving adultery may take as long or longer than waiting for the one year to pass after separation.

• You can apply for a divorce even if your partner does not agree.

• There is no such thing as a “legal separation”. The date of separation occurs when one person informs their partner that they no longer wish to be in a marriage or a marriage-like relationship. Parties can still be separated even if they are still living together (for example, if they are sleeping in separate rooms or no longer behaving as though they are in a relationship). Divorce is a legal process, and only applies to married people. In order for parties to obtain a divorce, typically, they must have been separated for a minimum of one year. In certain situations (cruelty or adultery), a divorce can be finalized after only three months of separation. Regardless of when a divorce can be finalized, the divorce process can be commenced as early as the date of separation.

There are two options. The first is to come to an agreement with the other party through negotiation, mediation, judicial dispute resolution or a combination of those options. The second option is to go to court and have a Judge or Justice make the decision for you.

• Mediation is a process in which the parties agree to attend a meeting with a neutral party who can help them come to an agreement. Mediation is confidential and “without prejudice”, which means that the discussions during the mediation cannot be used in court. A mediator does not impose a decision on the parties, but can draft a document if the parties come to an agreement. This agreement is legally binding and sets out everything that the parties have agreed to do. This “Memorandum of Agreement” will usually form the basis of a formal “Settlement Agreement”, to be reviewed by the parties’ lawyers prior to signing. The role of the mediator is to facilitate communication and help the parties problem-solve so that they can focus on the issues. This process is faster than going to court, helps preserve the relationship between the parties, and gives them the most control over the process. A mediator can help with issues relating to children, property and financial support, as well as other issues that the court may not have the time, expertise or ability to address. Mediation can take place in person or remotely, by way of telephone conferences or videoconference calls.

• Arbitration is a dispute resolution process in which the parties hire a neutral third party to make a legally binding decision and resolve the dispute for them. The parties can agree to a process as to how they will submit their evidence, how and when a hearing will proceed, and who will act as the arbitrator. Arbitration is similar to the court process in that a decision is made, but it is faster and the parties can select an arbitrator with experience in family law, rather than having their matter decided by a judge who may not have a background in family law. Arbitration is a confidential process, which allows parties to keep their personal and business information private. At the end of the process, the Arbitrator writes a decision, called an “Arbitration Award”. If one of the parties does not respect the decision of the arbitrator, the other party can apply to the court to have the Arbitration Award enforced.

• Mediation/Arbitration is a hybrid process that encourages parties to come to an agreement first through mediation, but if the parties are not able to agree, the parties switch to an arbitration process and the mediator-arbitrator makes a legally binding decision called an arbitration award.

• Parenting coordination is a child-focused dispute resolution process for families in which the parents are separated. Deb is an accredited family law parenting coordinator under the Family Law Act in British Columbia and is trained as a parenting coordinator. A parenting coordinator is a lawyer or a mental health professional with experience working with high-conflict families, knowledge of family law and extensive training on child development and the effect of conflict and separation on children. A parenting coordinator is a neutral party who helps parents implement their parenting plans by resolving day-to-day disputes in a timely manner, and developing healthy communication and conflict resolution strategies with the parties. The parenting coordinator meets with the parties, and can meet with the children, mental health professionals, teachers or any other professional that the parties agree can provide additional information. The role of the parenting coordinator is to help the parties resolve their disputes by agreement, and to provide a legally binding decision quickly if the parties cannot agree. A parenting coordinator can only make decisions on issues that the parties have agreed will be resolved by the parenting coordinator in a retainer agreement. These issues can include adjustments to parenting time, registration in extra-curricular activities, managing holiday schedules and making plans for pick-up and drop-off of the children. The decisions of the parenting coordinator are not privileged or confidential, and may be used in court if one party does not follow or decides to appeal the decision of the parenting coordinator. Parenting coordination is usually a long-term process, where the parties learn to manage the parenting issues by themselves over time by working with the parenting coordinator.

• If your spouse refuses to mediate, you can still pursue other legal avenues, such as filing for filing for assistance in court. It’s advisable to consult with a lawyer to understand your options moving forward. You can also serve a Notice to Mediate, and try to compel your spouse to attend mediation, although mediation may be less successful if your spouse does not wish to participate.

• Although the views and opinion of an older child may be taken into account by the Court in making a decision about a parenting arrangement, it is the Court that makes the decision about the residence of the child if the parents and guardians do not agree.

• Financial disclosure provides your complete financial picture to your ex, and it is required where property division, child support, and spousal support are at issue. Depending on what is at issue in your case, financial disclosure may consist of: your last three years’ income tax return statements, and notices of assessment or reassessment; your most recent paystub indicating your year-to-date earnings; your most recent assessment notice if you own property; a list of your assets and liabilities, including bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, lines of credits, and vehicles; and any other records pertaining to your financial circumstances.

• You cannot make your ex pay for all of your legal fees. However, if your matter does proceed to court and a decision is made in your favour, you may in a position to apply for something called “costs”, which compels your ex to pay a portion of your legal fees as determined by the Court.

• The issues of child support and parenting time are separate, and the payments of child support by one parent is not affected by the other parents withholding a child or children.

• A limited-scope retainer is an agreement for a lawyer to take on part, but not all of a client’s matter. For example, a lawyer could agree to provide independent legal advice about a contract or an agreement only, or to draft court documents but not appear in court.

• Trilogy Family Law is committed to increasing access to justice for British Columbians. We accept Legal Aid certificates, however, as we are a small firm, the amount of cases that we can accept is dictated by our limited resources. As a result, we are unable to accept every request for legal representation on a Legal Aid certificate. Please contact Legal Aid BC about eligibility criteria at https://legalaid.bc.ca.